1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus for recording/reproducing information by using a tape cassette, such as a video cassette recorder or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There has been known a conventional technique shown in FIGS. 1A to 1J, which is relating to a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such as a video recorder or the like. In the conventional technique shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C, a cassette discharge lever 25 is secured through a vertical supporting pin 26 to a bottom plate 6a of a cassette stage 6 so as to be freely rotatable in directions as indicated by arrows f,f' within a horizontal plane, and a cam driven lever 28 for rotationally driving the cassette discharge lever 25 is secured through a horizontal supporting pin 29 to a side plate 6b of a cassette stage 6 so as to be freely rotatable in directions as indicated by arrows g,g' within a vertical plane. The cam driven lever 28 is rotationally urged in the direction of the arrow g' by a torsion coil spring 30 to bring the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28 into contact with the other end 25b of the cassette discharge lever 25 from the direction of the arrow g' at all times. Further, a cam 31 which is located so as to be overlapped with a horizontal movement locus of the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28 is secured to a chassis side plate 32.
As shown in FIG. 1A, when a tape cassette 1 is inserted into the cassette stage 6 from a cassette insertion port of a front panel (not shown) in a direction of an arrow a, one end 25a of the cassette discharge lever 25 is pushed in the direction of the arrow a by a front end 1a of the tape cassette 1, and the cam driven lever 28 is pushed against the torsion coil spring 30 in the direction of the arrow g by the other end 25b of the cassette discharge lever 25.
In course of an eject operation of the tape cassette 1 from a cassette mount position to a cassette insertion position in the direction of the arrow b by the cassette stage 6, the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28 is relatively kicked from the direction of the arrow a by the cam 31 as shown in FIG. 1B to rotationally drive the cam driven lever 28 in the direction of the arrow g'. Further, as shown in FIG. 1A, the other end 25b of the cassette discharge lever 25 is pushed in the direction of an arrow f' by the cam driven lever 28, and the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage 6 is pushed in the direction of the arrow a' by one end 25a of the cassette discharge lever 25, whereby the tape cassette 1 is violently pushed out of the cassette insertion port in the direction of the arrow a' so that the tape cassette 1 can be easily pulled out at the outside of the front panel.
However, in the above-described prior art, the lower end 28a of the cam driven lever 28 is brought into contact with the other end 25b of the cassette discharge lever 25 from the direction of the arrow g' by the torsion coil spring 30, whereby the lower end 28a of the can driven lever 28 is kept to be overlapped with the cam 31.
Accordingly, in this application, in the course of a loading operation of the tape cassette 1 from the cassette insertion position to the cassette mount position in the direction of the arrow a by the cassette stage 6, as shown in of FIG. 1C, the cam driven lever 28 is once rotated in the direction of the arrow g against the torsion coil spring 30 by the cam 31, and then the cam driven lever 28 is violently rotated in the direction of the arrow g' by the torsion coil spring 30 at the instantaneous time when the cam driven lever 28 gets over the cam 31 in the direction of the arrow a, so that the cam driven lever 28 violently collides against the other end 25b of the cassette discharge lever 25 from the direction of the arrow g' and it causes an uncomfortable collision noise "click sound" at all times.
The every-time occurrence of the uncomfortable collision noise as described above causes questions on the quality of products, and thus this is unfavorable. In addition, when the cam driven lever 28 violently collides against the other end 25b of the cassette discharge lever 25 from the direction of the arrow g' in the course of the loading operation of the tape cassette 1, the cassette discharge lever 25 is rotationally driven in the direction of the arrow f' which corresponds to the cassette discharge direction, and the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage is displaced by the one end 25a thereof in the direction of the arrow a' which corresponds to the cassette discharge direction. Accordingly, there occurs such a cassette loading miss that the tape cassette 1 is not accurately engaged with plural cassette positioning pins when the tape cassette 1 is loaded to the cassette mount position. In order to prevent the positional displacement of the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage 6, a clamp force in the cassette stage 6 is required to be increased. If the clamp force to the tape cassette 1 in the cassette stage 6 is increased, a strong force is needed when the tape cassette 1 is manually inserted into the cassette stage 6, and also a strong force is needed when the tape cassette 1 is discharged by the cassette discharge lever 25 for ejection. Therefore, there occurs various problems, for example, the rigidity of the cassette discharge lever 25 and the cam driven lever 28 must be increased.
The present invention has been implemented to solve the above problems, and it has an object to provide a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus which can beforehand prevent a cam driven lever from violently colliding against a cassette discharge lever in the course of a loading operation of a tape cassette.
There has been also known another conventional technique as shown in FIG. 1D, which is relating to a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such as a video recorder or the like. In this conventional technique, an opening/closing lid 5 for opening/closing a cassette insertion port 4 of a front panel 3 from the inside is secured to a cassette stage 6 through a supporting pin 7 so as to be freely rotatable in the directions indicated by arrows c,c', and a cassette press member is constructed by the opening/closing lid 5.
That is, as indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 1D, in such a state that the cassette stage serving as cassette feeding means is returned to a cassette insertion position P.sub.1 corresponding to the inside position of the cassette insertion port 4 from the direction of the arrow a', the opening/closing lid 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow c' to close the cassette insertion port 4 from the inside by the opening/closing lid 5. In a cassette loading operation, when the tape cassette 2 is inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 into the cassette stage 6 from the direction of the arrow a, the opening/closing lid 5 is pushed and opened in the direction of the arrow c by the tape cassette 2, and also the tape cassette 2 is pressed and fixed onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 by the cassette press force in the direction of the arrow d' of the opening/closing lid 5.
Thereafter, the cassette stage 6 is horizontally retracted from the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 into the cassette retract position P.sub.2 in the direction of the arrow a by a cassette loading mechanism (not shown), and then the cassette stage 6 is vertically descended to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 in the direction of the arrow b. When the tape cassette 2 is horizontally loaded to the cassette mount position P.sub.3, the tape cassette 2 is mounted horizontally onto plural cassette position pins 8, and the tape cassette 2 is upwardly pushed to the position of a height H.sub.1 from the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6. In addition, the tape cassette 2 is pressed and fixed onto the plural cassette positioning pins 8 by the cassette press force in the direction of the arrow d' of the opening/closing lid 5, and the front lid 2A of the tape cassette is opened upwardly.
After the cassette loading operation, a magnetic tape in the tape cassette 2 is pulled out from the cassette by the tape loading mechanism and loaded onto a rotating head drum (not shown) to perform information recording/reproducing operation. After the information recording/reproducing operation, the cassette stage 6 is returned in the directions of arrows b',a' from the cassette mount position P.sub.3 via the cassette retract position P.sub.2 to the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 by a reversing operation to the cassette loading operation, and finally the tape cassette 2 is discharged to the outside of the cassette insertion port 4. At this time, when the tape cassette 2 is pulled out in the direction of the arrow a' from the cassette insertion port 4, the opening/closing lid 5 is rotated in the direction of the arrow c' and the cassette insertion port 4 is automatically closed from the inside, as indicated by a dotted line of FIG. 1D.
According to the above-described prior art, the cassette insertion port 4 of the front panel 3 is opened/closed from the inside by the opening/closing lid 5 which is freely rotatably secured to the cassette stage 6, and reciprocatively moved between the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 and the cassette mount position P.sub.3 together with the cassette stage 6, and the opening/closing lid is also used as a cassette press member for pressing onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 the tape cassette 2 which is inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 into the cassette stage 6. Therefore, the number of parts and the number of fabrication steps can be reduced to promote reduction of the cost. In addition, a proper portion of the tape cassette 2 which is located at a rear side a movable space of the front lid 2A of the tape cassette 2 can be pressed by the opening/closing lid 5, so that the cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus of this prior art has high resistance to external disturbance or the like.
However, in this prior art, in such a state that the cassette stage 6 is moved from the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 in the directions of the arrows a,b to load the tape cassette 2 to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 as indicated by a solid line of FIG. 1D, the cassette insertion port 4 of the front panel 3 is left opened. Therefore, there is such a risk that a next tape cassette 2 is erroneously inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 (i.e., cassette double insertion), another foreign matter is erroneously inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 or the like.
The present invention has been further implemented to solve the above problem, and has another object to provide a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus in which the cassette insertion port of the front panel is opened/closed from the inside by an opening/closing lid which is freely rotatably secured to a cassette stage and moved together with a cassette stage, and which can prevent a cassette double insertion, etc. in a cassette loading operation in advance.
Further, there has been known another prior art shown in FIG. 1E, which is relating to the cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such as a video recorder or the like. In this prior art, when the tape cassette 2 is inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 of the front panel 3 into the cassette stage 6 serving as the cassette feeding means in the direction of the arrow a, the tape cassette 2 is pressed and fixed onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 by the cassette press member 5 which is secured to the cassette stage 6.
Thereafter, the cassette stage 6 is horizontally pulled from the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 to the cassette retract position P.sub.2 in the direction of the arrow a by the cassette loading mechanism (not shown), and then vertically descended to the cassette mount position P.sub.3 in the direction of the arrow b to horizontally load the tape cassette 2 to the cassette mount position P.sub.3. At this time, the tape cassette 2 is horizontally mounted on the plural cassette positioning pins 8, and pushed upwardly to the height H.sub.1 from the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6. At the same time, the tape cassette 2 is pressed and fixed onto the plural cassette positioning pins 8 by the cassette press member, and the front lid 2A of the tape cassette 2 is upwardly opened.
After the cassette loading operation, the magnetic tape in the tape cassette 2 is pulled out from the cassette by the tape loading mechanism and loaded onto the rotating head drum (not shown) to perform the information recording/reproducing operation. After the recording/reproducing operation, the cassette stage 6 is returned from the cassette mount position P.sub.3 through the cassette retract position P.sub.2 to the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 in the directions of the arrows b', a' by the counter operation to the cassette loading operation, and the tape cassette 2 is discharged to the outside of the cassette insertion port 4.
In the above-described cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus, the cassette press member 5 must be disposed to be displaced nearer to the cassette discharge direction side (in the direction of the arrow a') than the opening/closing space S.sub.1 of the front lid 2A in order to prevent the interference between the cassette press member 5 and the front lid 2A of the tape cassette 2.
Accordingly, in this type of cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus, the cassette press member 5 can never press the upper portion of the front lid 2A portion which is the tip of the tape cassette 2, so that no countermeasure cannot be taken to the insertion of the tape cassette at an upwardly slant angle (.theta..sub.1) as indicated by a solid line of FIG. 1E to the horizontal reference indicated by a one-dotted chain line of FIG. 1E when the tape cassette 2 is inserted from the cassette insertion port 4 into the cassette stage 6 in the direction of the arrow a. A space S.sub.2 as indicated by a one-dotted chain line of FIG. 1E corresponds to a horizontal moving space of the cassette press member 5, and thus a fixed stopper for preventing the slant insertion of the tape cassette 2 cannot be disposed in the space S.sub.2.
Accordingly, when the tape cassette 2 is violently inserted into the cassette stage 6 as indicated by the solid line of FIG. 1E, the prior art has a risk that the tape cassette 2 is obliquely inserted at an upwardly slant angle (.theta..sub.1) Further, when the tape cassette 2 is loaded to the cassette mount position as indicated by the dotted line of FIG. 1E while obliquely inserted into the cassette stage 6, not only the tape cassette 2 cannot be accurately held by the plural cassette positioning pins 8, but also it runs on to various guides, resulting in a cassette loading miss.
Further object of the present invention is to provide a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus which can prevent a tape cassette from being obliquely inserted into a cassette stage in advance.
There has been further known a conventional technique show in FIG. 1F, which is relating to a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such as a video tape recorder or the like. In this prior art, two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 which are different in size (D.sub.1, D.sub.2) can be properly used. In this type of cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus, a cassette identifying member 9 for identifying the type (size) of the tape cassettes 1,2, a cassette insertion guide 10 which is switched in accordance with the identification result of the cassette identifying member 9, and a lock lever (not shown) for locking the cassette identifying member 9 and the cassette insertion guide 10 at a position which is downwardly escaped (shifted) from the cassette insertion space, are disposed inside the cassette insertion port 4 which is a laterally elongated opening formed in the front panel 3.
The cassette stage 6 serving as the cassette feeding means is disposed at the rear side of the cassette insertion guide 10, and there is disposed a cassette loading mechanism for reciprocatively moving the cassette stage 6 in the directions of the arrows a,b and a',b' along a substantially L-shaped moving locus among the cassette insertion position P.sub.1, the cassette retracting position P.sub.2 at the rear side of the cassette insertion position and the cassette mount position P.sub.3 at the lower side of the cassette retracting position. In the cassette loading operation, the tape cassette 1,2 is selectively inserted from the direction of the arrow a into the cassette stage 6. At this time, the type (size) of the tape cassette 1,2 is identified by the cassette identifying block 9 to switch the cassette insertion guide block 10.
That is, when a large-size tape cassette 2 is inserted, the large-size tape cassette 2 is identified by the cassette identifying member 9, and the cassette insertion guide 10 is downwardly escaped from the cassette insertion space together with the cassette identifying member 9. At the same time, the cassette identifying member 9 is locked at the lower side of the cassette insertion space by the lock lever (not shown). On the other hand, when a small-size tape cassette 1 is inserted, the small-size tape cassette 1 is guided onto the stage center at the center position in the right and left directions in the cassette stage 6 by the cassette insertion guide block 10, so that the small-size tape cassette 1 can be prevented from being erroneously inserted at a displaced position to the right or left side in the cassette stage 6 by the cassette insertion guide block 10.
After the cassette insertion, the cassette loading mechanism is actuated to horizontally retract the cassette stage 6 from the cassette insertion position Pi to the cassette retract position P.sub.2 in the direction of the arrow a, and then the cassette stage is vertically descended in the direction of the arrow b from the cassette retract position P.sub.2 to the cassette mount position P.sub.3, whereby the tape cassette 1,2 is horizontally loaded onto the plural cassette positioning pins while upwardly floated at the height H.sub.1 from the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6. At this time, the front lid 1A, 2A secured to the front end of the tape cassette 1,2 is upwardly opened in the direction of the arrow b'.
After the cassette loading operation, the magnetic tape in the tape cassette 1,2 is pulled out from the cassette by the tape loading mechanism, and loaded onto the rotating head drum (not shown) to perform information recording/reproducing operation. In the cassette eject operation after the recording/reproducing operation, the cassette stage 6 is vertically lifted up in the direction of the arrow be from the cassette mount position P.sub.3 to the cassette retract position P.sub.2 by the counter operation to the cassette loading operation, and then horizontally moved in the direction of the arrow a' to the cassette insertion position P.sub.1 so that the tape cassette 1,2 is discharged to the outside of the front panel 3 from the cassette insertion port 4 by cassette discharge means (not shown). At the same time, the lock of the lock lever is released by the cassette stage 6, and the cassette identifying member 9 and the cassette insertion guide 10 are escaped together into the cassette insertion space again.
However, in this prior art, the cassette identifying member 9, the cassette insertion guide 10 and the lock lever for locking these members at the lower side of the cassette insertion space are provided such places that an operator can easily see these members in the cassette insertion port 4. Therefore, the outward appearance of the cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus is remarkably bad. In addition, the operator can easily touch the cassette identifying member 9, the cassette insertion guide 10 and the lock lever from the outside of the cassette insertion port 4. Therefore, if the operator carelessly touches the lock lever under the cassette loading state to release the lock, the cassette identifying member 9 and the cassette insertion guide carelessly spring into the cassette insertion space. Therefore, at the subsequent cassette eject time, the tape cassette 1,2 collides against the cassette identifying member 9 and the cassette insertion guide 10, resulting in such a critical accident that that these members are damaged.
The present invention has been also implemented to overcome the above problem, and has further object to provide a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus in which a cassette insertion guide and a cassette identifying member re allowed to be safely accommodated at the outside of a cassette insertion space under a cassette loading state.
There has been known another cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such as a video tape recorder as shown in FIGS. 1G and 1H. This conventional cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus is suitably applicable to two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 which are different in size (D.sub.1, D.sub.2). According to this type of cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus, each of these types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 is selectively inserted from the direction of the arrow a from the cassette insertion port of the front panel into the cassette stage serving as the cassette feeding means (not shown), and then the cassette state is moved from the cassette insertion position to the cassette mount position to selectively load each of the two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 to the cassette mount position.
At this time, when the tape cassette 1,2 is inserted from the cassette insertion port into the cassette stage from the direction of the arrow a, the tape cassette 1,2 is guided by a cassette guide (not shown), and positioned at an insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11 which is the center position of the cassette stage in the right and left directions. When the tape cassette 1, 2 is selectively loaded to the cassette mount position by the cassette stage, the tape cassette 1,2 is inserted from the upper side through a pair of positioning reference holes 14 common to the tape cassettes 1 and 2 into a pair of cassette positioning pins 8 which are common to the tape cassettes 1 and 2 and located at the cassette mount position, whereby the tape cassettes 1 and 2 are can be accurately positioned at the insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the state center P.sub.11 at the cassette mount position.
Accordingly, when each tape cassette 1,2 is selectively inserted from the direction of the arrow a from the cassette insertion port into the cassette stage, it is necessary to carry out insertion position detection to detect whether these tape cassettes 1,2 are accurately inserted to the insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11 in the cassette stage. Further, it is necessary to carry out cassette type detection to detect the type (size) of the tape cassette 1,2 which is selectively inserted into the cassette stage and perform position control of a pair of right and left reel tables (not shown) at the cassette mount position. In the prior art, the insertion position detection and the cassette type detection of the tape cassette 1,2 are separately performed. Therefore, the number of parts and the number of fabricating steps are remarkably large, and thus the manufacturing cost is remarkably high.
In this case, two members being detected (hereinafter referred to as "detection targets") 15 and 16 which are located at different positions with respect to the common positioning reference holes 14 to the tape cassettes 1 and 2 are formed at the front ends 1a and 2a of the tape cassettes 1 and 2, and two detection members 18 and 19 are provided to a detection lever 17 which is secured to the cassette stage so as to be freely rotatable in the directions of the arrows e,e'. Here, two light reflection type optical sensors 22 and 23 are selectively switched on/off by two light reflection plates 20 and 21 which are provided to the detection lever 17 when these detection members 18 and 19 selectively detect the two detection targets 15 and 16, whereby the insertion position detection and the type detection of two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 can be simultaneously performed.
In a case where only one detection lever 17 is used, when a large-size tape cassette 2 is inserted, the detection member 18 for detecting a small-size tape cassette 1 is spaced from the front end 2a of the large-size tape cassette 2, and thus a gap 24 can be formed between the detection member 18 and the front end 2a of the large-size tape cassette 2. Accordingly, in the loading and eject operations of the large-size tape cassette 2 to and from the cassette mount position, the front lid of the large-size tape cassette 2 can be smoothly opened/closed without interfering with the detection member 18. However, if two detection arms are used to detect the detection members 18 and 19 of the tape cassettes 1 and 2 separately from each other, when the large-size tape cassette 2 is inserted, the detection member of the detection lever for detecting the small-size tape cassette still suffers interference by the front end 2a of the large-size tape cassette 2, so that it obstructs the opening/closing operation of the front lid of the large-size tape cassette.
However, according to the system for selectively detecting the two detection targets of the two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 by two detection members 18 and 19 provided to one detection lever 17, for example, when the large-size tape cassette 2 is inserted, an optical sensor 22 for detecting a small-size tape cassette is preferentially turned on in synchronism with the rotation of the detection lever 17 in the direction of the arrow e, and then an optical sensor for detecting the large-size tape cassette is turned on. Therefore, it is required that the small-size tape cassette detecting optical sensor 22 which is once turned on is switched from the On-state to the Off-state. However, the moving range of the detection lever 17 is limited, so that it is very difficult to adjust the switching operation of the small-size tape cassette detecting sensor 22 in the order of OFF-ON-OFF, and this adjustment work causes a remarkable increase in cost.
The present invention has been also implemented to solve the above problem, and has further object to provide a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus in which both the insertion position detection and the cassette type detection of plural types of tape cassettes which are different in size can be accurately performed with a simple structure.
There has been further known another cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus such as a video tape recorder or the like as show in FIGS. 1I and 1J. In this prior art, two types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 which are different in size (D.sub.1 and D.sub.2) are properly used. According to this type of cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus, when these types of tape cassettes 1 and 2 are selectively inserted from the cassette insertion port of the front panel (not shown) into the cassette stage 6 serving as the cassette feeding means in the direction of the arrow a, these tape cassettes 1 and 2 are positioned in two axial directions at the insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11 which is the center position in the right and left directions of the cassette stage 6.
In this case, with respect to the large-size tape cassette 2, it is positioned on the stage center P.sub.11 by both right and left side plates 6b of the cassette stage 6, and it is positioned at the insertion reference position P.sub.12 by a pair of right and left cassette stoppers 11 which are formed at the front end of the bottom plate 6a. On the other hand, with respect to the small-size tape cassette 1, it is positioned on the stage center P.sub.11 by a pair of right and left cassette guides 12a of a pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 which are secured to the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6, and it is positioned at the insertion reference position P.sub.12 by a pair of right and left cassette stoppers 12b. If the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 still projects onto the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6, the large-size tape cassette 2 cannot be inserted into the cassette stage 6. Accordingly, in the prior art, the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 are secured to the lower surface side of the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 by a pair of right and left leaf springs 13, and when the large-size tape cassette 2 is inserted into the cassette stage 6, the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 are escaped to the lower side of the bottom plate 6a against the pair of right and left leaf springs 13.
The tape cassette 1,2 which is selectively inserted into the cassette stage 6 as described above is cramped on the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 by the cassette press member. After the cassette insertion, the cassette stage 6 is horizontally retracted from the cassette insertion position to the cassette retract position in the direction of the arrow a by the cassette loading mechanism (not shown), and then it is vertically descended to the cassette mount position, whereby the tape cassette 1,2 is loaded so as to be horizontally mounted on the plural cassette positioning pins (not shown) provided at the cassette mount position by the cassette pressing force of the cassette press member.
After the cassette loading operation, the magnetic tape of the tape cassette 1,2 is pulled out from the cassette by the tape loading mechanism, and loaded onto the rotating head drum (not shown) to perform information recording/reproducing operation. After the recording/reproducing operation, by the counter operation to the cassette loading operation, the cassette stage 6 is returned from the cassette mount position via the cassette retract position to the cassette insertion position, and finally the tape cassette 1,2 is discharged to the outside of the cassette insertion port.
However, in the prior art, the pair of right and left stopper blocks 12 for positioning the small-size tape cassette 1 at the insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11 are secured to the bottom plate 6a of the cassette stage 6 by the pair of right and left leaf springs 13. Therefore, if the rigidity of the leaf springs 13 is low, the leaf springs 13 would be irregularly deformed due to distortion or the like if the small-size tape cassette 1 is carelessly strongly inserted into the cassette stage 6, and the pair of right and left cassette guides 12a or the cassette stoppers 12b are deviated from the normal position, so that the small-size tape cassette 1 cannot be accurately positioned to the insertion reference position P.sub.12 on the stage center P.sub.11. If the position of the tape cassette 1,2 in the cassette stage 6 is inaccurate, there would occur such a cassette loading miss that the tape cassette 1,2 cannot be accurately mounted on the plural cassette position positioning pins when the tape cassette 1,2 is loaded to the cassette mount position.
On the other hand, if the thickness or width of the pair of right and left leaf springs 13 is set to a large value to increase the rigidity thereof to an excessive value, a cassette push-up force of the stopper blocks 12 which corresponds to the reaction force of the leaf springs 13 is excessively large, and thus a strong force is needed to insert the large-size tape cassette 2 into the cassette stage 6, so that it is remarkably difficult to insert the large-size tape cassette 2. Accordingly, the insertion degree of the large-size tape cassette 2 is insufficient, and the large-size tape cassette 2 is loaded while it is not accurately inserted to the insertion reference position P.sub.12, resulting in the cassette loading miss in which the large-size tape cassette 2 cannot accurately mounted on the plural cassette positioning pins of the cassette mount position.
The present invention has been also implemented to overcome the above problem, and has further object to provide a cassette type recording/reproducing apparatus in which any tape cassette can be easily inserted when plural types of tape cassettes which are different in size are selectively inserted into the cassette stage, and any tape cassette can be accurately positioned in the cassette stage.